If you missed our last reminder, there is less than a week for most California employers to finalize and implement Workplace Violence Prevention Plans (“WVPP”) and have their employees trained on the company-specific policies by July 1, 2024.

As part of implementing the Workplace Violence Prevention Plan, an employer’s designated “Crime/Workplace Violence Prevention Coordinator(s)” must physically go through each office or workplace and identify potential areas of concern or improvement and record their efforts in doing so.

Similarly, each Crime/Workplace Violence Prevention Coordinator will need to determine what training will be appropriate for the respective office or workplace that they oversee, and tailor the policy accordingly. On the subject of training, each employer will need to conduct an initial training when the plan is first implemented, and annually thereafter, on all of the following:

1. The employer's plan, how to obtain a copy of the employer's plan at no cost, and how to participate in development and implementation of the employer's plan;
2. The definitions and requirements of the plan;
3. How to report workplace violence incidents or concerns to the employer or law enforcement without fear of reprisal;
4. Workplace violence hazards specific to the employees' jobs, the corrective measures the employer has implemented, how to seek assistance to prevent or respond to violence, and strategies to avoid physical harm;
5. The violent incident log required by the plan and how to obtain copies of records; and
6. An opportunity for interactive questions and answers with a person knowledgeable about the employer's plan.

Additional training must also be provided when a new or previously unrecognized workplace violence hazard has been identified and when changes are made to the plan.  Absent any changes to the plan or newly identified hazards, training should be conducted on an annual basis, at minimum. If additional training is required, it may be limited to addressing the new workplace violence hazard or changes to the plan. The employer should maintain records of the training and the participants.

In the event of a crime or violent incident, employees involved and/or the designated Crime/Workplace Violence Prevention Coordinator should be provided and complete a Workplace Violent Prevention Incident Report. Once an incident report is completed, the Crime/Violence Prevention Coordinator should then complete a Violence Incident Log for the employer’s recordkeeping purposes.  An Incident Report Form should not be used in lieu of the Violence Incident Log because California law requires that certain identifying information that appears in the Incident Report Form must be omitted from the Violence Incident Log.

Finally, and as alluded to previously, California law requires employers to maintain records of workplace violence hazard identification, evaluation, and correction for a minimum of five years. Training records must be maintained for a minimum of one year and include training dates, contents or a summary of the training sessions, names and qualifications of persons conducting the training, and names and job titles of all persons attending the training sessions.  Violence Incident Logs must be maintained for a minimum of five years. Records of workplace violence incident investigations conducted must be maintained for a minimum of five years.

Ervin Cohen & Jessup LLP is available to assist its clients in creating Workplace Violence Prevention Plans for each workplace. In addition, we are proud to offer tailor-made trainings to employers on a flat-rate basis. California employers are encouraged to contact the author for more information on these programs.